Harvey Ranch
The agrarian architecture of Fayette County is uniquely Texan: mid-19th-century German emigrants constructed well-proportioned neoclassical stone buildings alongside the practical wood buildings of the Anglos, all of which were soon enveloped in deep southern porches as a new regional architecture evolved. This refreshingly refined dialect was used to infuse the Harvey Ranch House with a strong sense of place. Built as a compound around an ancient oak tree on a rock outcropping above a palmetto-lined spring, the house is oriented to southeastern breezes. It is first visible from across the east pasture, where the road skirts an orchard before winding into a court on the west side.
Project Credits
Location
Industry, Texas
Structural Engineer
Gessner Engineering
Landscape Architect
Sara Lake Landscape Design
Interior Designer
Don B. McDonald Architect
General Contractor
Minarcik Construction
Ironwork
Cactus Max
Photography
Peter Vitale
A crisp white masonry building with symmetrical facades establishes the heart of the compound.
A collection of arrowheads and artifacts found on the property dominates the walls. Limewashed pine floors are a counterpoint to the crisp white plaster walls.
The wood framed kitchen building establishes the heart of the ranch house.
The porch terminates at a trail that connects to the palmetto spring and swimming tanks.
